FRABOOM Goes the Dynamite

An online children's museum sounds intriguing, doesn't it?  After all, children are becoming more and more adapt at navigating technology, and some would argue that they need to be computer literate as early as possible in order to succeed.  So it would make sense to introduce an online museum to children - they could learn to navigate around the internet and engage with content at the same time.  It sounds good, in theory.  It's just too bad that FRABOOM Online Children's museum doesn't deliver in practice.

The opening screen of FRABOOM shows a cartoonish exterior of a Grecian-style museum building, with five different sections to choose from.  You'll find, though, that you can only navigate to two of them - the games and a "Play Now!" link that asks you to become a paying member.  I'm guessing that all the other parts of the museum would become available as soon as you purchase a membership, but it seems a little dishonest to put for-pay content on the homepage.

I'm not sure I would even want to become a member, because the quality of the exhibits in FRABOOM leaves a little to be desired.  Although I would be interested to see what the U.S. Presidents and Dinosaurs sections look like, I can't really say the same for Talk With a Tooth Fairy Live! or an entire exhibit devoted to the mouth.  Although the topics featured on the museum's map are all pretty standard kid-friendly topics, they seem a little generic and bland.  There are thousands of places on the web where kids can learn about insects or the ocean for free, so if parents are going to be paying for content it had better be pretty spectacular.

Aside from the exhibits, the bonus features aren't too compelling.  There is a section of interactive books that are animated as they're read aloud, which is a cool feature, but there are only four shown on the virtual bookshelves (and only one is available for free).  The museum's games are intended to be educational, but in playing them I found it hard to discern just what I was supposed to be learning.  There's also a selection of so-so cartoons, but do children really need more television to watch?

As you can tell, FRABOOM leaves a lot to be desired.  The potential is there, in the form of some of the exhibits' content, but the momentum is lost in rehashing topics that have been done to death for kids and pushing too much flashy, minimally educational content to the fore.  The need to pay for most of the museum's content is also a huge drawback.  If you're going to shell out cash to see exhibits, you might as well purchase a membership to your local, physical children's museum and go as many times as you like.  I can guarantee there will be more creativity and less gimmickry on display.


FRABOOM - Online Children's Museum
Website:  www.fraboom.com